Family are the ones that choose to be there. The ones that want to remember.
Even though Cole was on a floating island a couple hundred feet off the ground, he felt connected to the earth in a way he hadn’t felt in a very long time. For his earth, his world, stood atop a flying ship fighting against gales of wind to back him up.
A steady warmth grew from somewhere deep within his core, grounding him.
"Woah, I feel different," Cole observed.
The warm feeling flowed outwards to his hands and lit them up in a molten orange. A powerful weight settled in them, completely contrasting against his translucent green form.
"Like, like, I can punch through-"
Instinctively, he ducked as the Yin blade sliced above his head. He stood his ground, fists ablaze, as Yang spun around to strike him once again.
Jay angrily scrubbed the tears from his face and glared up at the night sky. The growing pressure in his chest threatened to choke him, but he took a deep shuddering breath and centered himself. In calculated precision, he kicked off the ground and spun into cyclon-do.
He shot into the air, faster than he had ever gone before. His barely contained anguish fueled his rapid ascent. How long could he keep this up? None of them had ever really tried to test how long they could hold airjitsu. Jay was about to find out.
A swirl of clouds formed above him, slowly blocking out stars one by one.
Jay glanced down. The floating island of the Temple of Airjitsu shrunk smaller and smaller until it was a speck against the vast expanse of the desert. From up here, Ninjago City’s lights twinkled on the horizon.
He was very far from the ground, probably the farthest any of them had gone without mech nor suit. The thought sent a jolt through his heart. How high can he go? How much farther until the thin atmosphere choked away his breath instead of the crushing feeling of defeat?
He reached cloud cover and watched as the earth below slowly faded away.
Wind ripped away his tears as Jay refocused his attention upwards. His form wavered. The turmoil he felt within threatened to unravel his carefully contained composure.
No. Don’t fold. Keep going.
He renewed his determination and pushed himself further into the depths of the developing storm. Lightning flickered on either side of him. His element sought out the power of the storm and the storm responded in turn. Sparks danced across his skin and his heart clenched.
In desperation, he looked below as if this time it would be different. But like before, the earth was completely gone, obscured by dark storm clouds. Cracks of lightning zigzagged beneath and thunder boomed.
His breath came out in short gasps.
He couldn’t do it, could he?
The storm closed in and suffocated him. His cyclon-do form flickered.
No. He couldn’t break. He had to go further. He had to keep trying. He couldn’t give up. Ninja never quit.
He repeated the mantra over and over.
It was not enough.
It was never enough.
Every negative emotion he tried to keep at bay finally crashed down on him. He lost his airjitsu form, and the circle of wind snuffed out. Suspended in the chaotic show of cloud and lightning, he hovered a bit. Surrounded with nothing but his feeling of failure. Because that’s all he ever did.
Useless.
Weak.
Hopeless.
Broken.
His tears returned in full force and this time, Jay did nothing to stop them.
Through blurry vision, he watched the clouds continue to circle him. His airjitsu stopped, but the storm spun on. It wasn’t fair.
He couldn’t contain the lightning within him even if he tried.
Far from the earth, alone in the swirling eye of the storm, Jay screamed.
Pick your out of context poison. Despite all these being bruisefics, I managed to have a snippet featuring every original ninja+wu
1.
“Bleh. Ok,” Jay said, wiping his mouth from fur. “Cats don't react that way. You still have human sentience, or atleast whatever intelligence you had to begin with.”
“Well isn’t that rich coming from you,” Cole retorted, except all that came out of his mouth was a meow.
Cole and Jay blinked at each other in surprise.
“No way,” Jay intoned. His face lit up in a grin. “That was. So cute.”
Cole groaned as Jay delved into a fit of laughter, one that held a little less hysteria and a bit more mirth. Note to self, don't ever speak again. He didn't think he could take the patronization or the ammunition he was handing over on a silver platter.
2.
“Ha! That’s what I’m talking about, baby!”
“Great job! It only took 27 deaths and one controller later,” Zane stated.
“The battery just fell out! It still works!” Jay protested while waving the controller as if to prove his point. “And we are not counting Cole sabotaging me, that was totally foul play. 26 deaths.”
“How does the saying go?” Zane pondered. “All’s fair in love and war?”
“Oh shut up. That doesn't make you less evil.”
Zane shrugged. “You said you wanted a challenge. 27.”
“I didn't take you for a cheater. 26.” Jay glared, jabbing a finger in his direction. “And proof that you are a troll.”
Jay held out the controller to Cole, while Zane mouthed 27 behind his back. “Here, you’ll see what I mean. You didn’t see the whole level, and I want to watch you struggle.”
3.
“Is this Jay proposing or Cole?” Nya critiqued.
“Alright fine, Master of Romance," Kai snarked, "how would you suggest Jay do it?”
“Not like that,” Nya snorted, snatching the medallion and handing it back to Jay. “You’re over complicating it, Jay. Cole’s a simple guy, you really don’t need to do anything fancy for him.”
“But that’s exactly WHY I should do something fancy for him,” Jay groaned. “Because he deserves something nice for once!”
4.
“No,” he squeaked. “No no no no please. I never left you, so don’t you dare leave me!”
BONUS
[s7 rewrite from my crossover longfic]
“Why did you do it?” Lloyd whispered, scowling at the bedside table. “We could’ve helped you."
“There are some fights one must face alone,” Wu gently explained.
Lloyd’s gaze finally snapped to his uncle.
“Like Cole?” he retorted. “He thought that too, and look what happened to him. Look what almost happened to you! If we didn’t arrive when we did…”
He trailed off and shut his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall.
“You should know this!” Lloyd hissed.
Some Nin-jumble dragons rising rewrite. I wrote this prior to @psychologicalwarclaire proposing the details with Nya and her response to the Land of Monsters. But I still wanted to share this.
I had a Jaya and Tsunami Duo reunion scene after this, but it conflicted too much with the Nya plotline sooooo *hides it in the dark closet*. For now, we decided Nya comes back to the monastery later
